GOP Salivating Over Hunter Biden

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I am Insider senior politics reporter Grace Panetta, filling in for Brent Griffiths. You possibly can ship me suggestions at gpanetta@insider.com or @grace_panetta on Twitter.

This is what we’re speaking about at the moment:

With Jordan Erb.

One factor to look out for at the moment: Kamala Harris is making her first trip to the US-Mexico border as vice president.

1. GOP ITCHES TO GO AFTER HUNTER: The GOP solely must win again a handful of seats to retake the Home in 2022 — and so they’re “salivating” to make use of that potential majority to relentlessly investigate the president’s son.

• A refresher: Hunter Biden got here underneath intense scrutiny through the 2020 marketing campaign over the whole lot from his enterprise dealings to his struggles with substance abuse. (There is not any proof his international dealings have influenced the administration.) Hunter’s also the subject of a DOJ investigation out of Delaware into his tax affairs.

4 key GOP lawmakers on committees of jurisdiction informed us they’re able to flex their oversight energy if voters put them ready to steer investigations once more.

• They’d attempt to nail the president on his immigration insurance policies and on the origins of COVID-19 — however one lawmaker additionally stated that Hunter’s dealings can be on Republicans’ top-10 record of priorities to discover.

This might turn out to be the brand new Benghazi probe in a GOP-led Congress: It might observe a well-worn playbook for the GOP. Bear in mind: their prolonged investigation into the 2012 terrorist assault in Benghazi led to the invention of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s personal e-mail server.

Here’s how these inquiries would force the White House to play whack-a-mole.

2. Pence hits again at Trump: Former VP Mike Pence struck again at former President Donald Trump final evening, saying that there is “no idea more un-American” than that one person could decide the presidency.

Pence pushed again on the president’s continued assaults on him throughout a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library. He additionally repeated the identical argument he made on January 6 — that he feels he did his obligation and adopted the Structure.

Whereas Pence did not point out Trump by title throughout this portion of his speech, the remarks had been clearly directed at Trump and his supporters. 

3. “Now we have a deal!”: A bipartisan group of 21 senators and President Joe Biden reached a major breakthrough in negotiations for an infrastructure bill. 

• The group agreed to a $1 trillion bundle, with $579 billion in new spending. This might fund transportation infrastructure, water, broadband, and energy-efficiency initiatives.

However the senators nonetheless should get their colleagues on board with the invoice. And for Democrats, the legislation has to be part of a package deal with a much larger budget bill.

“There ain’t going to be an infrastructure invoice except now we have the reconciliation invoice handed by the USA Senate,” Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated Thursday.

4. Biden gives help after the tragic constructing collapse in Florida: The president signed an emergency declaration for the state of Florida, permitting FEMA to coordinate with restoration efforts after a part of a high-rise residence complicated close to Miami collapsed within the early hours of Thursday morning. (See before-and-after photos showing the devastation.)

Watch video footage of the tower crumbling to the ground. 

5. Rudy Giuliani loses his legislation license — for now: A New York court docket officially suspended Giuliani’s license to practice law for 2 years.  

This makes Giuliani the primary lawyer to expertise skilled sanctions for presenting lies in regards to the 2020 election. It is a gorgeous rebuke for the previous prosecutor recognized for taking down the New York mob within the late Nineteen Eighties. 

A deep dive from our DC bureau: The inside story of Giuliani’s descent from ‘America’s mayor’ to presidential lawyer and now an FBI target.

6. Trump boasts about “huge crowds” at a rally … that is not taking place till tomorrow: Trump’s getting again on the rally circuit after laying low for the previous few months, and is already setting excessive expectations for crowd sizes. (Historically a dangerous game for the Trump workforce.)

Hopefully this weekend will not be a repeat of this headline from June 2020: “Trump had a meltdown and yelled at aides backstage when he realized how empty his rally in Tulsa was, reports say.”

7. Biden faucets Cindy McCain for ambassadorship: If she’s confirmed by the Senate, McCain, an Arizona businesswoman and the widow of the late Republican Sen. John McCain, will signify the US on the UN’s Businesses for Meals and Agriculture. More on McCain’s career and appointment here. 

8. So … wanna stay in France?: Its tax insurance policies might in the future entice you to make the transfer, in accordance with monetary planner Brian Dunhill. 

He suggests finally retiring there — as a result of France provides retiring expats among the best double taxation agreements on the planet. The financial guru breaks down what that means here.

9. Drought maps present the West is a ticking time bomb: The western US is withering underneath its worst drought in a minimum of 20 years — presumably in 1,200 years. The most popular months lie forward, and early excessive climate might foreshadow one other devastating hearth season. Look at the maps here.

10. New Yorker paperwork his journey to the Midwest — and goes viral: Considered one of Insider’s newest journey tales has been shared broadly this week. Since everybody’s speaking about it, we figured we would share it with you, too. Behold: “I’m a New Yorker who visited the Midwest for the first time. Here are 15 things that surprised me.” 

Right this moment’s trivia query: Right this moment would have been the sixty fifth birthday of Anthony Bourdain. Which American politician famously joined him for a meal in Vietnam? Electronic mail your reply and a advised query to bgriffiths@insider.com — sure, Brent might be again subsequent week.